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Karl Byrne, 26 from Dromara, Northern Ireland, did his undergraduate degree in Virology at Edinburgh University and is currently in the final year of a biochemistry PhD at Queens University Belfast, looking at a novel drug treatment for viral exacerbations in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. He entered Famelab after being threatened by a friend and felt a day's humiliation was better than death. Outside of study, he enjoys swing dancing, karaoke and watching films (occasionally muttering to himself about the bad science that turns up in them) as well as occasionally pretending to be a superhero. When not engaged in a flight of fancy he really wants to make science more accessible to non scientists and show that scientists aren't all cackling madmen (regardless of what appears above).
After winning in Belfast last year, Karl said:
"I heard about FameLab from a friend in London, who basically threatened to kill me if I didn't enter, so deciding that a day's humiliation was better than death I set off to the W5 on Saturday morning, trying to write a speech on the way. Everyone was really friendly, which helped me relax a bit before the competition started. I had been worried that the judges would be of the Simon Cowell variety, but this couldn't have been further from the truth. They gave all of us really helpful feedback about where our strengths may lie and things which we could change to improve our presentation skills. The judges liked what I did and I found myself through to the second round. Here the judges where a bit more challenging, quizing us on our presentations and science communication in general. Overall I had a great time and I'm actually looking forward to the final in Cheltenham. Bring it on!"
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© Cheltenham Festivals 2006/7
